Light in the Darkness
by shadowwriter01
Summary: Sequel to "Darkness in the Light". A dangerous force is threatening Greece, led by a "warlord" in league with the Darkness. Even the wargod Ares can not hope to face this foe by himself. He is searching the world for help. At the same time a even greater threat is waiting, one that could mean the end of everything. Will Hercules and the resurrected Xena be able to save the world?
1. Chapter 1: The search

**Disclaimer:** I don´t own Xena and Hercules or anything related to it.

* * *

**Light in the Darkness**

In the beginning of time only two entities, two forces, existed in the whole universe, and since the very beginning, these two were locked in an eternal war against each other.

They were the Original Gods, the embodiment of creation and destruction, the One God of Light and Darkness.

Their endless conflict formed the universe as it is known today. Everything that exists is made from the two and their presence exists and lives on in everything around us.

They had been given many names; Ahura Mazda and Ahriman, the Light and the Darkness, Ormuzd and Dahak are just a couple of their countless identities.

This two are constantly fighting each other and at the same time share the supreme rule over all creation.

In time there, other entities that came to represent certain aspects of the world made an appearance as well, other `gods´. These beings began to create their own spheres of influence and came to rule over the mortals of the planet Earth. They separated themselves in different groups and divided the world under themselves.

But not even they were able to escape the grasp of the eternal war shaking up the planets. Not only did their power paled in comparison to the two first ones, but at a cretain point it began looking quite insignificant too.

Like any other living and thinking beings, they were created from light and darkness and lived under their influence.

Like any other living and breathing beings they were just pawns standing between the two forces, from that point of view irrelevant entities that lacked the power to actually decide the fate of the universe itself in any way.

By now however, most of the gods were dead, either destroyed by the Darkness, known as Dahak, killed by other immortals or in case of the groups known as the Olympians, killed by one special mortal, known as Xena the Warrior Princess.

xxxxxxx

_Egypt_

After Xena's death, Gabrielle had spent an entire year in the land of the pharaohs. The Warrior bard was still in pain about her friend´s death, just as she was about the events that happened shortly afterwards, knowing that Xena's spirit had been confronted by their old enemy and she couldn't do anything to help…

Dahak had mercilessly revealed the failures, shortcomings and the self-righteousness of the two women. And Gabrielle had been forced to just watch.

Not only had she lost her soulmate, but now, she unwillingly doubted everything regarding their mutual relationship….

Still, she decided to move on with her life. Consequently, Gabrielle had spent that year mostly fighting bandits and protecting villages. She had written only two scrolls during that time. In them she had described the last events and tried to express the impact they had on her. She wasn't quite sure if she had succeeded… She lacked both the inspiration and that inner fire she needed in order to write.

What had she and Xena been to each other? She ceaselessly asked herself.

Had they been true soul-mates, friends and more? Or had she just been someone who had been naive and unthinkingly loyal enough to blindly accept **everything** her friend had done? Someone who had backed up even her most terrible decisions without so much of a question.

Had she been the `best thing in Xena´s life as she had told her or had she only been a lackey?

One year ago she would have answered this question without the slightest hesitation. Now she didn't know anymore.

During that night she couldn't think about anything else. It didn't take long before she was interrupted though..

She heard the noise from some distance. Someone or something was coming her way.

She carefully stepped away from the fire, wanting to surprise whomever was approaching the camp-site. As the being came closer, she realized that whomever it was, moved very unsteady. There were a few possible reasons for that to occur. The most obvious was that he might have been injured.

As the newcomer arrived closer to the camp-fire, she saw that it was a man and that he was indeed wounded. His clothes were full of blood. The man was wearing robes that seemed to belong to a priest, but Gabrielle couldn't tell who was the deity that he was serving. It was clear however that the man needed help.

She stepped forward. But as soon as she reached him, he broke down. She wrapped her arms around him, trying to support him, but she could see that it was too late. The man was dying. Gabrielle noticed that he was trying to speak to her.

"H...help," he said. "The scriptures, they can´t..." His head sank back. He was dead.

xxxxxxx

_Somewhere in the Eastern region of Greece_

It was in the wooded area that marked the border regions of the old realm of the Olympians from places like Sumeria and the Assyrian Empire.

Someone had built a town there once. It was a long time ago, nevertheless…so long that people hardly remembered the name.

At first glance, there was nothing extraordinary about the place. It was an average sized settlement of a few hundred people. The inhabitants were mostly farmers, who spent their day working on the field. Some men were also in charged with hunting for wild in the forest and there were also few traders, just like in any other regular town.

The one thing that made the place unusual though was the fact that it was located in the area were the spheres of influence of three countries met. Consequently, the people living here were partly of Greek and partly of Sumerian or Assyrian heritage.

Despite this, they were living together peacefully, without great differences.

And while most of them had been following the religion of the Olympians- until the warrior Xena had killed them that is- a few were still worshiping the Gods of their old homelands.

Now however, with the Olympians gone, many more had turned to the gods of their fellow citizens. Others had converted to Eli´s religion while a handful of people were following other versions of the One God´s teachings. Despite this change, the life in the town continued like it had always had.

Variety was a common notion that had been tightly embraced by the inhabitants of this small town, without the slightest problem.

Now the town didn't exist anymore though….The army responsible for it's destruction was watching the smoking ruins.

In between the ruins, the impaled or crucified bodies of some of the locals were hanging high.. The heads of some of a couple of men who had dared fight back were being stuck on pikes at the entrance of the devastated settlement.

It was a scene of horror.

xxx

At the first ray of light they had attacked without warning. It was a large number of fighters. All of them were clad in dark colored armor. While most of them were riding, in between were a few who were supposed to attack on foot.

In the center of the crowd of warriors however, four different riders stood out from the others. They were wearing black cloaks over their battle armor and had the hoods drawn over their faces. While the others were starting to raid the town, this four only stood back and watched.

The attack came as a complete surprise. An unexpected blow, for sure.

Many people were still sleeping when the noise of the fighting woke them up .

Only a few of the men who were trained to fight actually had the state of mind to bring out their weapons and put up a defense. Many were killed before they even had the chance to reach them. The few who did though, were quickly overwhelmed by their skilled opponents.

One after another the people of the town were brutally slaughtered by the invading fighters.

None of them was spared, neither man, nor woman or child. Nobody knew the reason of the attack or even their motivation. What was known was the swiftness and sheer brutality of the assault. It was a massacre.

After less than an hour all life in town had been wiped out. Everybody who had the bad luck to be there, was dead; all of them, with three exceptions: two men and a woman were being dragged before the four dark figures who were obviously in charge of the other attackers. All three of them were under the few who had been fighting back against the invaders.

"Master," one of the warriors reported, "we have found nothing. These three were captured while they were fighting us in front of an Assyrian shrine."

The rider who was standing the closest to them dismounted. He removed the hood from his head. They saw that he was a man with shoulder long dark hair. He appeared to be in his mid thirties.

"I see," he said without visible emotion. He let his eyes wander over them.

"You," he asked one of them, "you are a follower of the Assyrian Gods?"

"Yes," the man replied defiantly.

The leader of the invaders said nothing, but he kept looking at him.

The native had a bizarre feeling. He couldn´t help it, but he felt as if this stranger was watching his very soul.

"He doesn't know anything," the dark man finally said. He turned around to his three comrades, than back to the prisoners.

"You three are warriors," he stated. "Your duty was to protect your home-town."

"Yes," it was the woman who answered.

"As you see you have failed. We were able to surprise you and kill all of your folk. And it wasn´t even any challenge in doing that. I'm willing to give you three a chance to redeem yourselves though."

He stuck his own sword into the ground before them and stepped forward.

"Give these three their weapons," he said to his men. "Now," he ordered as he saw that they were hesitating. "If one of you is able to touch me," he said to the captives, "I will let you go."

The three natives looked at each other. They didn't get it: they had their weapons back and standing before the leader of the force who had destroyed their town. And he was facing all three of them unarmed….. Still, the stranger was radiating confidence.

What was the catch?

The Assyrian man and the woman moved at the same time. Both of them tried to ram their swords through him. But the woman was hit by a well placed kick that sent her backwards. A split second later, her partner could only watch how their opponent caught his sword-arm in the move, wrestled his weapon out of his hands and stabbed his own blade through his chest.

All this happened in the matter of moments. The third native didn't even get a chance to react. By the time he drew the dagger he was carrying and threw it, it was too late.

His opponent caught it in mid air, with an effortless, precise move….

The woman used this as a chance for another strike but was blocked by the sword he had taken from her partner. Both of the remaining natives were attacking together now. One strike of the second man actually grazed his side. But one moment later he disarmed him and beheaded the woman with a single move.

It was over. Around fifteen seconds.

It had taken longer than he expected….

He looked at his side. The one strike of the surviving native had left a small cut in his clothes.

"As I promised you," he said to the man, "I will let you go."

He turned around from him.

"You let me go?" the man asked angrily. "You have destroyed my home, killed my family. Tell me why? Why?" he shouted.

The leader of the dark warriors turned back to him.

"I could give you my reasons. I could explain our motives for choosing this town to you.

But unfortunately, you wouldn't be able to understand most of them. Ultimately, the truth is, **it is what I do**," he replied.

"I swear one day you will be destroyed," the man shouted. "One day someone will kill you and I hope I will get to be the one to do it!"

Instead of getting an answer in words, he suddenly felt how he was lifted off the ground by and invisible force. Then he felt to his horror how the same force seemed to be constricting around his throat and strangling the life out of him.

After a few seconds he felt the invisible grip stop and he was dropped back to the ground.

"You don´t know what you are dealing with," the dark man told him before he joined his retreating troops and left him behind, alone in front of the ruins of the devastated town.

xxxxxxx

_Egypt_

Gabrielle was still following the trace of the dying man back after she had burried him. What she found both fascinated and surprised her.

She was standing in front of the entrance of a cave. Inside she could make out what seemed to be a large temple complex. Instead of being built in the usual way, this one seemed to had been carved into the already existing rock-formation.

What she could also make out however was the smoke that was coming from the inside. Was it the sign of an attack? It was obvious that the man had come from here.

xxxxxxx

_The coast of Ireland_

The God of War had just arrived on this island. It was the furthest edge of the Olympian territory and it had cost him nearly all his power to transport himself here.

It was only with the arrival of the Romans in this area some years ago that he and his family got access to this place at all. But this was technically spoken still the realm of another pantheon, the Gods of the Celts, and he could quite poignantly feel just how weak his powers were here.

The demi- gods were the only ones who could move freely in between pantheons without any type of problem…Demi-gods just like the one he came looking for…And yes, there was only one reason for which he had bothered setting foot on this place at all- to find his mongrel brother, Hercules.

Ares heard that he had settled there after he had left Greece some 27 years ago together with his companion Iolaus. It was shortly after he had killed Zeus-sometimes he still wished he had done that himself.

But on Hercules it seemed to have had a stronger impact.

Later he seemed to have decided to leave the country and start anew somewhere else. And as Ares had been told, he chose this island for it. As far as he knew, Hercules had visited this place before on the occasion of one of his journeys and decided to return here for good.

For the most part he was quite happy that his troublesome half-brother was no longer around. But now, even he had to admit, he needed him and any other help he could get.

About an hour later, he arrived at some village close to the coast.

"Hey you," he called out as he spotted a mortal. "I am Ares, the God of War from Greece. I am looking for Hercules. Tell him I am here for him."

He saw that they all were looking at him strangely. No great surprise. His appearance was quite unusual for this area and it was not every day that you met a God.

However he didn't have to wait long. Only after a few minutes a figure appeared he knew only all too well. Hercules was looking nearly exactly like he did 30 years before. The only difference was that he was now wearing green colored clothes instead of the ones he had in Greece. Ares recognized that the half-god had not visibly aged a single year since then.

Next to him stood the red haired woman he knew as Morrigan. She had as well not aged too much. Probably a half-god as well, he thought.

"Ares," Hercules greeted him. "This is really a surprise. What do you want?"

"I am here because I've missed you so much," he replied sarcastically. "What do you think? There's a problem in Greece and I need your….assistance…."

* * *

**Side note:** For the ones who don´t know it. Morrigan is a character from the fifth season of Hercules. Like him she is a half-god and based on a mythological being. In the beginning she had been a antagonist before she was influenced by Hercules to change. (The character has many parallels with the early Xena.) The two had a short relationship and she had been one of his companions in the fight against Dahak (The others being Nebula, Jason, Zarathustra.)


	2. Chapter 2: Back to life

**Chapter 2**

Xena was back to life.

That very moment she was on her way to find a transport to Egypt and she was in a hurry. She was riding full speed in the direction of the coast.

The irony was that the being responsible for her return was none other than Dahak himself.

Yes, she had returned, she thought. But since the first minute she had come back the awareness that she was completely alone made the situation less pleasant that she had expected it to be….That and the fact that she was also unarmed and…. completely naked. She had been teleported at the outskirts of her home-town Amphipolis…..Was that a coincidence? She couldn't tell….She had to admit though that Dahak did have a very sick sense of humor.

And still, her being there proved to be quite a luck. The people gave her new clothes, food, a weapon and a horse…It was more than enough for the time being.

Their generosity didn't stop her from remembering that the Dark God had only brought her back for one single purpose- to use her against something else. This other threat however, she knew, was now close to Gabrielle, very close. That was precisely the reason why she was now riding as if every still living God was on her trail.

She knew she would never forgive herself if something bad would happen to her just because her timing was awfully bad.

xxxxxxx

_Egypt_

Gabrielle had walked through the entrance and was now inside the temple. What she saw as soon as she had stepped inside, confirmed her worst suspicions.

Dead bodies were covering the floor. Most of them were unarmed, they were all dressed like priests- just like the man she had found in the desert a few miles from there.

Some of them however were carrying weapons. A squad of guards who were meant to protect them maybe? It was a possibility.

Who could have ordered such massacre and why? she couldn't stop asking herself.

The man she found earlier that day had murmured something about the scriptures. Was this the reason? Was there something valuable here? Had this been a raid?

Whatever was hidden here, was it worth killing everybody in someone's opinion?

"Hello, is someone here?" she called out in Egyptian. Maybe someone had survived the massacre, she thought and was now hiding. "I am not one of the attackers. I am here to help," she said.

But she didn´t get an answer, at least for the first few seconds.

"I am **here**," she heard a voice and at the same moment she saw the figure of a man appearing before her out of thin air.

Gabrielle recognized the phenomenon far too well. He was a God.

"I greet you mortal," he said to her. "You don´t have to be afraid of me," he assured her.

"You are one of the Gods," she stated, and according to her expression she was anything but surprised.

"Yes I am," he replied. "You are Gabrielle, right? Former companion of Xena, the Warrior Princes, Slayer of the Olympians."

"I am honored that even a foreign God knows about me," she said in awe.

"You have earned something of a name mortal, even in my circles," he replied. "After all you have assisted Xena in destroying an entire Pantheon."

She realized for the first time that she might be perceived as a threat….that he might think she was responsible for what had happened there.

"I assure you, I had nothing to do with this," she told him, gesturing to the dead priests.

"I am aware of that," he answered. "I know who is responsible and I will find them."

"I am sorry about what happened. Was this your temple?" Gabrielle asked him.

The God gave her a friendly smile.

"Oh, I think you misunderstand. I am a God. But not one of the ones native in this realm. I am not of the Egyptian Pantheon."

Gabrielle looked at him a bit unsettled and skeptical. On her travels she had met many different Gods, but she had never seen one outside of their own realm.

"May I introduce myself. I am Assur, former King of the Assyrian Gods," he said.

"Oh" Gabrielle murmured to herself. "Forgive me," she said, "but I have never seen a God outside of his own territory."

His face became thoughtful for a moment.

"You are right. Normally, when we cross the border to another realm, we loose our powers. But things are different now. These are special circumstances."

"What do you mean?" she asked him.

"The ones you know as the Egyptian Gods are not longer there," he said. "During the last

few years, many Gods have been destroyed. Entire tribes have been wiped out. You know about that."

Gabrielle nodded. She knew all too well, she had been involved in one of those destructions after all.

"The Egyptian deities came to the conclusion that the age of Gods on this world was reaching its end, that it was their fate to go. So they decided to leave this planet behind. By what I know they were heading to the stars, looking for a new place to exist out there. Opposed to the Olympians they were not dependant on worshippers to draw power from. So they were able to do that.

My own pantheon had been destroyed about thirty years ago. I am the last of my kind," he told her.

"I am sorry," she replied.

"Thank you, but that is in the past now. Nothing can bring them back. The world as we know it is changing, Gabrielle. The borders between the realms are slowly breaking down and thus, Gods like me become able to move from one place to the other as they wish. So far however I think I am one of the only few who can do it.

I am here, in this realm for a reason, an important reason," he said to her. "I know that you have found a man who fled from this temple, a man who died a short time later. Did he tell you anything before he died?"

"He said something about the scriptures, about needing help," she answered in all honesty.

"Did he mention anything about the location of these scriptures? " he demanded to know.

"No, he died before he could say anything else."

The God turned away from her.

"That's bad," he said.

"Why? What is in these scriptures? Was this the reason everybody here was killed? Who would do something like that?"

"Some time ago, something of incredible value was stolen from a temple in Assyria," he began to explain. "On this occasion, I found out details about a very old secret. There are a number of ancient scrolls hidden at different locations all over the realms. These carry a secret older than known history. Not even the Gods themselves had been aware of it.

These scrolls are holding the key to a power that could destroy the world."

xxxxxxx

_Ireland_

"So you are telling me that you came travelling here just because you need my help?" Hercules asked Ares with visible distrust.

The two sons of Zeus had by now retreated into one of the village huts and were sitting together with Morrigan and Iolaus. In opposite to the two half-gods present, the mortal man was actually looking his age. His once blond hair had become grey and his skin had wrinkled.

"Well, yes," the God of War answered. "As you must have heard by now, there are only a handfull of us Olympians left, as a result of the Twilight. But now, a terrible enemy has invaded our territory. There is an army, led by a group of powerful creatures. We can not stop them by ourselves. Hercules, we... I need you," he said, swallowing his own pride.

"Sorry, but I think you understand my skepticism. " the demi-god told him.

"No…?" Ares stated somewhat impatiently, as if he didn´t have a clue about what might have triggered that kind of reaction from his brother.

"First of all, I am probably the last person in this world you would ever ask for help, second of all, you have never actually asked me for help before, not matter how dangerous the situation was and thirdly, you would love nothing more than to destroy us all along with your enemies" Hercules said. "You are just as dangerous as whatever you want us to fight against."

"Do you actually think we have forgotten how we fought together against Dahak´s followers and how you stabbed us in the back then?" Morrigan added.

Ares couldn´t quite believe what he was hearing. He had made the effort to come all the way till that Gods forsaken island, compromising his own power by entering the borders of another realm, he even went as low as **begging** Hercules for help, only to get it thrown back into his face.

"Little brother believe me, you really are the last person in this world I would ask for help," he sneered. "But sadly, there are only a handful of us Gods left and as I told you, Xena is dead."

He did his best to keep the sadness out of his voice. "This new menace is a threat to all of Greece, to the entire world," he claimed.

"Just like you are," Hercules smartly replied.

"That is enough," Ares shouted, "I have come here because I want to save our homeland. I am asking you of all people for help and now you compare me to these….these….. abominations? I admit that we had our differences, but we also worked together on numerous occasions in the past. We did stop Michael and his horsemen after all and I thought..." he stopped in mid-sentence.

"Oh, I see now what is going on here," he said. He was looking from Hercules to Morrigan and back. "You have build up a new life for yourself and you just don´t want to leave. You killed Zeus and now you can not longer stand it to live in Greece, so you run away. Yes, really a nice hero that you are."

"Oh really?" Hercules replied, even angrier than Ares had been. "The time when but a few years back you had all the Gods trapped into another dimension, keeping them prisoners and destabilizing our reality - ready to kill them if there was no other way to ensure world domination- must have slipped your mind! You didn't seem to care about the destruction of both worlds back then, why would you have a change of heart now, huh? " Hercules yelled, outraged by Ares' lies.

Ares swallowed nervously.

"And not only that, a few months later when your son Evander** accidentally** released a group of Titans from Tartarus, you were all to eager to team up with them, despite the fact that you were more than informed of the fact that they were planning to destroy Olympus and devastate the Earth. Oh yes, you don´t want the world destroyed unless it fits into your agenda. One month you help to stop the Apocalypse, the other you are trying to cause it yourself. And you're still wondering why we don't trust you? You must be joking! "

"OK..maybe I have made a few mistakes in the past," Ares admitted.

"A few mistakes?" Morrigan commented. "That is also a way to call it…."

"Maybe we should listen to what Ares has to say," Iolaus pointed out. It was about time he got more involved into the discussion. "I don´t think he came all this way just to trick us."

" Finally someone with some sense!" the War God replied.

"We both know that Ares would never ask you for help, if he had another choice…..He would only do it if he were really scared for his own existence. " he added.

"I am not scared," the God yelled a protest…."I'm only slightly concerned…And I also know when it's high time to look for reinforcements."

"Iolaus is right Hercules," another voice spoke up, "Ares is telling you the truth."

They all turned around to see a man suddenly appearing in the room.

All of them with the exception of Morrigan, recognized him instantly.

"Michael!" Hercules exclaimed.

xxxxxxx

_One year earlier, somewhere in the area of Persia, close to the Sumerian border_

A group of men and women was standing in a large circle. They were all wearing black cloaks and hoods were covering their faces.

All of them were whispering a strange and menacing sounding litany of verses.

One however was standing in the center of the circle. His voice was loud for all the others to hear.

"Ahriman, Dahak, Lord of Darkness, rightful master of the universe," he recited, "hear my prayer."

At his words, flames began to lighten up, spreading all around them.

The whispers around him became more eager, the tempo increased.

A few yards next to the location of the ritual, stood the shackled forms of three captured people, a man, a woman and a young girl, hanging from a rack.

The flames had now formed a ring around the entire place, surrounding both the participants and their prisoners alike.

Two of the robed ones were stepping out of the line. One of them was a dark haired woman, the other a concealed being who was wearing a mask on his face, hiding his identity besides the hood.

They were moving towards the captives. Both of them drew a dagger and simultaneously cut the throats of two of their helpless victims.

"Ahriman, send us the being who was born from your spirit and human flesh and blood," the leader of the ceremony announced.

The flames around them came to life, they moved through the air and began to concentrate in a single place in the center of the ring. They were starting to take shape and forming a human figure.

The skin of the forming being looked as black as coal as if it had been heavily burned. It was an image hard to describe.

The being opened her eyes; they were shining in a bright green. She was looking at the last captive, a middle aged woman and made a simple gesture with her hand. Before she had even the chance to scream the entire body of the woman was disintegrated and the organic matter absorbed into her own body.

It was a quick and painless death, done without any real malice, but without hesitation either. It was a simple act of consummation. One death for the life of another, not a very different act from eating in order to survive.

The figure had now become much more solid. It was also clearly visible that it was a female. Enough with the magic though, for the rest of her body could regenerate by itself now. She would soon have her old appearance back and she knew it.

She remembered back. For a long time she had been in a deep sleep, decades in fact. Only a few times in these years had her consciousness actually been awake. But it didn´t matter. She was here, now, back in the physical world.

She remembered her meeting with the cursed Xena in the afterlife and further back the death of her son. The thought filled her with fury.

"Welcome Child of Darkness," the leader said to her.

"You are the ones chosen by my father," she observed.

"Yes," he replied.

"You held this ceremony to speed up my return to the physical plane."

"Exactly, child," he said. "You have come a long way, but you still have far to go. We are here to instruct and prepare you for the new tasks your father has for you." he smiled at her.

xxxxxxx

_Ireland, in the present_

Ares began to prepare a ball of energy in his hand as soon as he saw the newcomer.

"You," he said, ready to attack.

"Ares, wait," Hercules called out.

"What is it?" the War God asked. "You know as good as I do who this infamous monster is!

"He may have released the Horsemen, but for the most part he is not an enemy," the half-god informed him.

"Did I get this right? Even he is more trusted than I am now?!" Ares inquired. He was more than offended, he was revolted.

"Compared to you, he only tried to destroy the world once and he wasn´t even serious about it. In case you didn´t notice, he could have easily wiped us all out back then if he wanted."

The Olympian glared at the Archangel.

"So this **whole ****I will destroy the world thing** was only a bluff?" he asked in complete bewilderment.

"It was a gamble- a test for Hercules and the rest of you- if you will- that you had passed," Michael answered.

"Oh great," Ares remarked.

"I know about the enemy you are talking about," the Angel told them. "They are called the Aka Maha. Their leader is a being calling himself Caine."

"Caine," Hercules repeated.

"The Aka Maha," Iolaus exclaimed.

"You sound like you know them," Ares pointed out.

"Oh, I do…..I do remember them. But not from my own memories...Dahak," he said this single word.

xxxxxxx

At the same time, thousands of miles away, Xena had just boarded a ship that was supposed to take her to Egypt.

A large part of her was still full of doubts. Using only the power of his mind, Dahak had ripped two women to pieces during their last confrontation in the afterlife.

He had turned out the ugly side of practically everything she and Gabrielle had ever done and he had arranged it that the bard had heard every single word of what was said.

She didn´t even know if Gabrielle would welcome her or spit her in the face when she saw her again.

But that didn´t matter anymore. She was in danger and she needed her help.

"Gabrielle," she whispered, "I hope you are alright."

* * *

**Mythological references: **

1) Like stated here, Assur was the King of the gods in the assyrian mythology. He was in first line a god of war and hunting, but also of the sky and patron god of the capital city (also called Assur).

The Assyrian Pantheon was closely related and to a great part identical to the Sumerian One. In the first episode of season 5 of Hercules, the Sumerian Gods had been wiped out by Dahak. From there comes the statement that his "fellow gods" had been destroyed 30 years ago.

2) Aka Maha is the name of an Persian archdemon who was spreading chaos and evil and was serving the god Ahriman, who was mostly the real life mythological base for Dahak. For this story the name is given to a group of individuals.


	3. Chapter 3: Questions

**Chapter 3**

_Egypt_

The foreign god and Gabrielle were still standing before each other.

"You are a mortal," he said to her, "But I know you have become rather experienced in the fight with higher powers. So I guess I could use your help," he admitted.

His voice didn´t sound too appreciative of her presence, but not nearly as haughty as someone would have expected from someone like him. He was a god after all.

"Tell me, what makes these scriptures so dangerous and who is after them?" Gabrielle wanted to know.

"I can't brag about knowing everything myself," he answered. "A few months ago a secret temple in my own realm was under attack… As I found out later, a particular scroll had been stolen, similar to the one that the priests here were protecting. In all, there are three of them, each one hidden in a different realm and together they can summon a power that would easily surpass the one of the Gods.

A secret order of mortals however has been guarding this scrolls ever since the age of the Titans," he told her, "and now they are paying for it with their lives."

He cast a compassionate looking gaze at the dead bodies lying around them.

"Do you have any idea who might have done this?" Gabrielle asked him.

He shrugged, a gesture that was not all too often seen from a God.

"I don´t know much about this being, except that he is an agent of the forces of darkness," he answered. "I don´t even know his name. But what I do know is that he is part of the force responsible for the destruction of my own pantheon, 30 years ago."

""What force?" she curiously inquired… "Who…or better said what can wipe out an entire tribe of Gods?"

It was a stupid question, she immediately realized though. She and Xena had come pretty close to achieving the same thing with the backing of `Eli´s God´.

"Oh, I think you have a very good idea," the Assur told her grimly.

She did indeed have a good idea of who could have been responsible-

Who else could destroy an entire pantheon? Obviously someone who had done something strikingly similar in the past. There were only two names.

"What do you want from me?" she asked him.

The God smiled at her.

"I know that there is at least one other temple of the order in this realm," he told her. "While this here is the more prominent place, the other is a supposedly completely safe hideout. I have however a vague idea where it might be located. If you want, you can accompany me. Given the situation, I could use any help I can get."

"And what can I do to help you?" she questioned.

Truth was, there was a lot she could imagine that she could do to help. She had been fighting with and against Gods for years and encountered a large number of supernatural phenomena- She could have easily guess any immortals' weaknesses and that alone turned her into a very powerful ally.. But she would have never expected a God, maybe with the possible exception of Ares, to actually acknowledge this.

"There is actually a lot you can do," he said. "Aside from your skill as a warrior, you are also a famous Bard. I am sure you have already gotten acquainted with the legends of this land."

"I have indeed," she replied.

"So you can start by helping me find the scrolls...and protect them. I've come across several ancient texts that led me to this place and I have reasons to believe that they might be hiding some clues about the scroll's whereabouts. Together with your knowledge about the local tales and writings, I am sure we can pinpoint the location.

And of course, the priests of the secret order would rather trust another mortal than a foreign God," he pointed out. "You see, there is much you can do to help," he assured her.

"I see," she answered. She **really** did understand.

xxxxxxx

_Ireland_

For nearly thirty years, the half-god Hercules had lived on this island in relative peace, until today.

Now, he and Iolaus had received surprise visits from not one, but** two** faces from the past.

"Dahak is behind this?" Morrigan asked agitated.

"Yes Dahak, indeed," Iolaus repeated. "He and I had shared the same body and mind for months," he reminded them. "I have seen much of his knowledge at the time, his memories, his thoughts, just as if they were my own. In some sense they were. This is one part of this knowledge."

"The Aka Maha are, what you could call the elite-guard, serving him," Michael told them. "They are completely devoted to their master and they themselves are masters in the art of spreading chaos, dissent, destruction and evil in his name.

They have the ability to travel between worlds and realities, wherever it serves the goals of their Lord.

Originally they had been mortal beings, who had however over time developed great powers and immortality," Michael said. "But they stopped being mortals and became something else a long time back…..."

"Like Zarathustra," Hercules pointed out.

"In a sense, yes. But Zarathustra was primarily a priest and a messenger and he always had his doubts about Dahak´s goals, even when he was completely under his influence. **This** group consists of warriors and their loyalty to their cause is without question.

This is the only sense of their existence. They are as used with setting living beings against each other, trigger wars, destabilize societies, draw in and corrupt others as they are with breathing.

Sometimes, Dahak uses them to destroy entire words," he explained to them. "In their own way they are just as dangerous as the Four Horsemen who you have met."

"Yes, thanks to you," Ares remarked.

"Their leader, Caine, is by every right a God. His power rivals that of beings like Zeus or Hera and even surpasses them in some aspects," Michael said.

"If they are **that** powerful, why did Dahak not use them earlier? Why wait?" Morrigan questioned, and her curiosity did make sense.

"That is a good question," he simply replied.

"He had other priorities," Iolaus cryptically underlined.

"To say it bluntly, you were simply not important enough," Michael informed them. "From Dahak´s point of view, this world is only one out of many, even if it often captures his special interest.

During these last years they were present in a world parallel to yours in time and space, one that was created at the time his followers tried to erase your life from existence, Hercules. After that unfortunate attempt, that world kept existing as an alternate reality to yours." he added, looking from the half-God to Iolaus and back.

"The Earth of that reality however does not longer exist now," he stated.

He waited to let the implications of what he had just said sink in. "And now they have returned to this universe."

"And you are here to stop them?" Iolaus asked.

"No," Michael replied, "I am not."

xxxxxxx

_Somewhere out on the sea_

She was sleeping, dreaming.

The trading ship that was taking her to Egypt was still sailing over the sea.

But one week had past since she had returned to her old world. If she was being honest she didn´t even know for sure if she was back for good or only for the time being, to do the task he wanted her to do. She had been returned to life, but not for her own sake, only for the `mission´.

In her dream, Xena was surrounded by fire, standing inside a nearly endlessly large, empty hall.

The scene however was interrupted by memories from her past, the time in Britannia, their travels to Chin, the fights against the Olympians, the massacres that Livia, her daughter Eve, has caused.

_"Xena."_

She heard a voice calling out her name. Her dream self was looking around but couldn´t make out the source.

_"I see you have taken action,"_ the voice told her.

"Dahak," Xena realized.

_"Of course, you __didn´t think __I would let you loose on this world once again__ without __watching you, did you?"_ he asked.

"I am doing what you've asked me to do," she said to the flames. "What else do you want from me?"

_"Doing what you were asked to do?"_ the voice repeated._ "Well, I think that is a __matter __of interpretation."_

Once again, right in front of her, Dahak took human shape- his favorite form was the one of the young Iolaus, even if it was only inside this dream-sphere.

"I have informed you about the whereabouts of the three scrolls, remember? " he said to her. His human representation was now standing right next to Xena. "You know, one of them is in Greece, at a relatively short distance away from the place where you have been resurrected. You could have already been holding it in your hand right now, but you have instead decided to sail straight to Egypt."

"Gabrielle is there," she replied, "right next to the creature that is planning to destroy our world. I will find her and make sure that she is safe."

"Oh yes, this is quite an interesting choice," Dahak replied. "You could have gone for the scroll in Greece first and consequently, make sure that the Earth is safe. But then, that would have meant that there was a very high possibility for you to lose Gabrielle. On the other hand, you could do what you are doing now, but put everyone and everything else in even greater danger.

An interesting choice, indeed and it says so much about you." Dahak said, smiling at her.

"I will first save Gabrielle, then I will deal with everything else," she said.

"Xena, Xena, have we not talked about your selfishness on so many occasions? ."

"And what about you?" she replied. "You seemed to have forgotten about letting me in your little plan about sending a group of Immortals to Earth to spread chaos and destruction."

Dahak had shown her the scenes of the towns and villages that had been destroyed by his followers…Still, she couldn't quite tell why he had chosen to reveal that to her.

"They are hunting down the being who is searching for the scrolls, among other things. But that is only one of their missions.

They are fulfilling their purpose, just like you," he said. "In case that you fail and your world will actually be destroyed, they are preparing for me to get my share out of it. But that shouldn´t be your worry, right? You should rather make sure that you **wouldn't** fail."

"I won´t," she confidently replied.

"Isn't it fascinating how quickly you fall back into old behavior patterns? The very same ones that had nearly led you to damnation in the first place. Very well, do what you want. But don´t blame me for being prepared for any outcome.

In the end, you will all be mine anyway, Gabrielle, you, your entire world…. If you do manage to save it , of course. " he laughed, and vanished in a burst of flames.

xxx

Seconds later, Xena awoke with a violent jerk inside her cabin on the ship.

"Dahak," she whispered. Her voice had anger and worry at the same time, worry that her decisions were wrong.

xxxxxxx

_Ireland_

"What do you mean, you are not here to stop them?" Iolaus asked him in a high pitched voice..

"There is another threat out there," Michael told them, "one that is at the moment a far greater danger to your world. I have been sent here because of that."

"Oh, great, just great," Ares called out.

"The God of Light gave you the mission to stop this other threat?" Hercules noted.

"No, not quite," Michael admitted. He looked away for a second and then back to them. "The truth is, I have made a few decisions lately, and He is not exactly happy about them…."

"Like… releasing the Horsemen?"

"Not exactly, the Horsemen were, like Ares has put it, a bluff, a calculated risk that we had no intention to go through with. No, the actions that caused problems were something else," the Archangel stated.

"And what was?" Iolaus wanted to know.

"I foolishly ordered Callisto to create Xena´s daughter Eve, a child sired with the destiny to bring upon the destruction of the Olympians. I had hoped this would speed up the rise of the One God."

"You, you were behind all that!" Ares yelled angrily.

"In one word, yes. But there some unforeseen side-effects quickly showed up. The child grew up into a mass murderer and became involved with the emperor of Rome."

"Livia," Hercules realized.

"Yes, Livia. She killed thousands of innocent people and wiped out entire villages and I have to admit, I did very little to stop her."

"You mean **nothing**," Ares remarked.

"Yes, nothing," Michael corrected himself. "She was later **changed** by the power of the Light and I granted Xena the ability to kill Gods, that she then used to destroy most of the Olympians when they came after Eve."

"Yes, that is the one part of the story that we all know about," the War God commented.

"I then tried to convince her to nearly sacrifice herself to stop the insane Emperor Caligula."

"You mean you tried to talk her into getting herself killed so that Xena would snap and murder him," Ares pointed out.

"Xena only prevented that in the last minute," Michael continued. "My Lord had send me here and ordered me only to return after I had proved myself," he said.

"That means you are banished," Ares claimed.

He burst out into a noisy laughter. "Great, that couldn´t have happened to someone more fitting."

For the first time since any of them had met him, Michael looked visibly embarrassed.

"That is one way to see it," he admitted. "Hercules," he addressed the half god once again, "I think the powers you have discovered on this island could be a help in the fight you are facing now."

"What powers?" Ares asked, now curious.

"Knowledge and insight into the things around you," Morrigan told him, "not that you would understand anything about it. But also the ability to move faster than the eye can see. The only problem is that this power is bound to this realm and would be useless in Greece."

"Until now, yes," Michael said. "But I think if you are committed, with the help of the Light, you might be able to control this powers permanently."

xxxxxxx

_Egypt_

A ship had just reached the shores of the land of the Nile.

As they laid anchor in the harbor of a small coast town, a woman- the only passenger of the ship- walked from board. Xena had finally arrived and she was setting foot on Egyptian soil, for the first time in over 28 years.

"Thank you," she shouted to the captain of the ship who had brought her to this country. The quick transport had cost her a good part of the money her mother Cyrene had left for her, but it had been worth it.

As quickly as possible, she jumped on her horse and got on her way to find Gabrielle.

xxxxxxx

_Greece_

The Eastern borders of the country had for months been targeted by various attacks by now.

Today however, a new sort of terror had shown up. A monstrous creature had appeared right out of nowhere, attacking the village. It was slicing up people or just killing them with its bare hands. The monster was over three meters tall, had completely grey skin, sharp teeth and claws and a couple of blade like, razor sharp spikes at its underarms and shoulders, that it was using as deadly weapons.

A few yards away, two cloaked figures were attentively watching the massacre.

The beast had actually killed even a few of the men who had originally brought it into the village, but the two didn't seem to care.

"This creature actually exceeds our expectations," one of them, a woman, said in glee as she watched it rip one of the villagers apart, "a great progress from the original one. Look at the hate and anger it displays. This one is actually evil."

"The Princess won´t be happy when she finds out that you are using the body of her offspring for your experiments Varna," the other one remarked.

"Oh, don´t worry about it Xantr´el," she replied. "It is in the interest of our common cause after all, even she will have to admit that." And she returned with a smile to watching the monster decimate everything in its path.

xxx

Several miles away, in the fortress that had once belonged to a local ruler and was now being occupied by Dahak´s followers, `The Princess of Darkness´, also known as Hope, was boiling with anger.


	4. Chapter 4: Confrontations

**Chapter 4**

_Egypt_

Gabrielle, the Bard, was sitting over a line of papers, reading, comparing them to some other text and to her own knowledge regarding the legends and myths of this land.

She and her new `companion´ were still residing inside the now empty temple complex. During those last days they had buried the killed priests and were now looking for the possible location of the hiding place of the mysterious scrolls Assur had been talking about.

"To the right of the line of life," she was reading loud, "in the view of the sons of Ra and south to the city of the Fallen King," Gabrielle recited.

"What does this mean?" she asked herself aloud.

"That is what I wanted to know from you," the foreign God named Assur told her.

He was the one who had provided her with these writings, that had proved to be mostly copies of stories and legends and the history of that country.

But there was one text, written in tiny letters on one of the scrolls that had really managed to catch her interest. It was not from this country, that much was clear to her at first sight. In fact she didn't have the slightest idea about what its possible heritage might have been, and that, despite that she was usually an expert in that matter.

Besides the clues referring to the location of the secret temple, some fragments of the text also described a number of bizarre rituals and magical formulas and there were mentions of a great power. It had also references to names and places she had never heard before.

Suddenly Gabrielle realized what this had to be. Three ancient scrolls had been hidden at different locations in different lands over the world, according to the God Assur. Together they could summon a power that clearly surpassed the one of any Gods. So what was **he** doing with **this** text?

The train of her thoughts was suddenly interrupted.

"The `line of life´ that is mentioned here is obviously the river Nile," Assur told her. "But I am not really sure about the rest of its meaning " he uncomfortably admitted to her.

"I...I am not quite sure myself," Gabrielle answered uneasy. "Ra was of course the highest in rank of the Egyptian Gods. But this `sons´? It could mean some of the other Gods. But I am not sure how could this be a hint for the temple's location.

And I still can't find anything about this `Fallen King´. I think I have to continue my research."

"Then do that," he replied harshly. "But be quick about it though. Remember, we haven't got much time."

In but a matter of seconds, his entire demeanor had suddenly changed. Gone was the patient and relatively modest God she came to know during those days and instead there stood a demanding and angry one.

It only lasted for a couple of moments though.

"I am sorry Gabrielle, but you know important this is," he said in a lower tone.

"Of course," she replied nearly automatically. The bad feeling that she had developed during the last days had accentuated even more.

xxx

At the same time, Xena was quickly approaching their location.

Before her resurrection, Dahak had given her the exact places of the temples in Greece, Egypt and Assyria, and now she was riding in the greatest possible speed towards them.

Gabrielle, she thought, didn´t even know how close she was to death.

xxxxxxx

_Ireland_

The strange group that was consisting by now of the half gods Hercules and Morrigan, the Archangel Michael, Ares and Iolaus was now preparing to leave the island and begin its journey back to Greece.

One week had passed since Ares had arrived and asked them for help. Despite the fact that he had started a new life here, Hercules finally agreed to return with him.

One truly remarkable event was that Michael had restored Iolaus' youth. Hercules' friend and partner was now looking in his mid 30's.

Iolaus' reaction as he was first offered this option was of understandably more doubt than enthusiasm.

_xxx_

_"I am just a mortal man you know," he had pointed out. "I don´t know if eternal youth is something __I could live with.."_

_"__Technically, __you died thirty years ago," Michael replied. "You had __been__** sent**__** back**__ to support Hercules and watch over him and so you __**did**__. Without you he would not have succeeded in his last challenges. _

_You reminded him of his true nature when the demon `Sin´ __tried __to corrupt him. Without you, he would have lost __his purpose in life__. You stood by his side __even when__ the Titans __were__ released. All I ask of you is to do the same thing again. And in this state you would be a far greater help. I would just restore you to the same age you had been when you were returned to life."_

_Iolaus nodded __imperceptibly. _

_"I understand," he said. "Michael," he asked, "does this mean __that my__ time on this world is coming to an end?"_

_"I don´t know Iolaus," the Angel admitted, "maybe it is. Or maybe The Light will give you another 30 years at Hercules side. I can not tell."_

_"Okay, do it," he replied._

_xxx_

Only a few things were left to do before their departure.

In the moment, Hercules and Morrigan were involved into a trainings-fight.

A short distance away from them, stood Ares. He was watching the two half Gods open mouthed; they were moving at incredible speed. It was humanly impossible to follow them.

Even being a War God, he had to admit he was impressed. He didn´t even know if he himself could take on Hercules in this state.

The fight was just coming to an end. Morrigan ran an attack on him that he countered and threw her down.

Then he offered his hand to her, helped her up with a smile and put his arms around her.

"I see you've made progress," he told her.

"I'm not the only one" she replied smiling.

"Oh please," Ares said as he saw the display.

"Ares, why don´t you go bothering somebody else?" Hercules commented.

"I would love to. But in case you have forgotten, we are in a hurry to get back home. People are dying while we are here. That is something you should actually care about."

"Believe me, I **do**," the half-god answered.

"I think we are ready to go," Morrigan pointed out.

"You don´t have to come with me," Hercules said. "This is something that I and Ares have to do. But you… your home is here. And you do have enough responsibilities as it is."

"Of course I'm coming with you. Do you really think I would let you go alone, against Dahak? And don´t forget, I also have some unsolved business with him."

Years before, Morrigan had been very different from how she was after she met Hercules.. She had been evil and corrupt, a cold blooded killer working for the God Kernunnos who used her to hunt down the droids of Ireland who had at that time grew to be possible rivals of the Celtic Gods because many of the mortals were following their way.

Morrigan at that time got to the point of murdering many of their followers and killed everyone who was reckless enough to stand in her way. To ensure his own power, Kernunnos wanted to wipe the cult out. Hercules and the druids together were finally able to reach out to Morrigan and convince her to turn away from her master. The druids had offered her an alternative and she became one of them. A short time later, her relationship with the son of Zeus began. Everything changed.

Later however they were all killed by Dahak, all except Morrigan herself. She had then become one of the appointed group to defeat him, but as it looked, he was back.

"What about Bridget?" Hercules asked her.

Bridget was her daughter, hers and Kernunnos' and she was also the real reason why Morrigan had been following him for so long. For years he had been holding their own daughter as a bargaining chip to ensure her service. It was not until Hercules and Morrigan destroyed Kernunnos that she had finally regained her freedom.

"Bridget has long grown up," she reminded him.

The little girl from back then was now a woman in her thirties and became a member of the druids herself.

"She is still your daughter. We can not guarantee that we will all return or that any of us will. You might never see her again. This is about Greece, not about Ireland."

"If Dahak is involved it is about the entire world," she replied. "You know that as good as I do. I am not really needed here any longer Hercules. Bridget is more than ready to become my successor. I will come with you," she said, determination reverberating from her voice. "and if I don't return, I will at least have done my part to protect her and everyone else."

"I see you are all prepared," someone said to them. They saw Michael and Iolaus approaching.

"Yes Michael," Hercules replied. "We will leave today."

"Good," the Angel said. "I will go now as well."

"I thought you will come with us to Greece," the half-god responded.

"I was given a different mission. I have a good idea where he might be just now and I can not miss this chance to stop him. I will meet with you again later. But before I leave I have to inform you about something else."

"And what is it?" Ares asked impatiently. If he had had his way, they would have already been on sea now.

"Xena had been recently restored to life."

Everybody escaped a gasp of surprise at what Michael had just said.

Utter shock was written mostly on Ares' face though.

"How...how do you know this...and for how long ?" he asked.

"The Light has informed me, about two weeks ago."

"And why have you not told me about this earlier?" Ares shouted at him now.

"Because I was well aware that if I did, you would just rush off to find her before we were ready," he answered.

"Damn right, I would have done just that! "

"I will leave now," Michael informed them. "Oh and I will bring Xena and Gabrielle as well when I return."

With that he vanished from sight.

"I hate this guy," Ares murmured.

xxxxxxx

_Greece_

Hope was walking angrily through the corridors of the castle. A year had passed since she had returned to this world.

Her physical form had long been completely restored. She was once again the mirror image of her mother. At the moment, she was on her way to the throne-room to have a talk with Caine, the leader of her father's group of elite warriors.

Her clothes were very similar to the one she had been wearing before her death, a skirt that went to her knees, a top and boots, but, fitting to her new environment the fabric was pitch dark. This made her look **even more** like a broken image of Gabrielle.

She had to admit that the previous year had been exactly the opposite of what she had imagined. Since the day of her last rebirth, her role consisted mostly of encouraging of the followers and keeping up the moral with her mere presence. She remembered the day she had to hold a speech in front of hundreds of fighters several months before.

Besides that there were only the regular trainings-lessons she had with Caine in both, fighting and the use of her powers. She had to admit, **this** part was actually worth it.

But what actually bothered her was the fact that she was being kept out of every important decision. Her father had ordered her to simply stay there, keep a low profile outside of showing herself to the followers and wait, for what? she frequently asked herself.

To make matters worse, he had also told her not to depart from the ground of the castle. In short words, she had to stay in a five mile radius from the building. She nearly felt like a little girl that her father had sent to her chambers.

It was nearly as if he had lost his trust in her. But then, maybe he did. She had to admit, she **did** make her share of mistakes. But she would prove herself. She knew her chance would come very soon.

Hope was about to enter the throne-room. On her way there she came across the head of the former owner, that Caine had stuck on a pike outside at the corridor.

She opened the heavy door.

"Caine," she called out as she had entered the throne-room.

Two guards drew their weapons reflexively, but by an invisible force that were Hope´s powers they were thrown against the next wall.

The leader of the Aka Maha turned around. He had now the appearance of an old man.

She had seen this before. From time to time he had to regenerate his powers. Whenever this happened, his body became weaker and old and frail looking, but only for a short period of time.

In front of her eyes he started to grow younger outwardly until he returned to the appearance of the dark haired young man she knew.

She was reminded that this being was one of the Prime Chosen of her father and had maintained his position for ages. He had existed for thousands, maybe even ten-thousands of years. Even she didn´t knew exactly how old he was.

Fathered by the Great Dahak or not, next to him, Hope with her less than three years of actual life, was looking like a mere child. He was in rank equal to herself and given his actual authority at the moment, he even seemed even superior.

"Ah, Hope," he greeted her, "what can I do for you?"

"You know exactly why I am here," she retorted furiously. "Varna had been digging out the body of my son and is using it for her alchemistic experiments."

"Oh yes, she had mentioned something about it.," he pointed out. "It seemed like a promising idea."

"I had never agreed to this," she stated. And certainly wouldn´t have, she thought.

"It was in the interest of our cause and your father seemed to have no objections," he told her. "I see you have not killed my guards," he mentioned casually, looking at the two men.

"There is no need to kill useful soldiers," she replied.

"If you say so."

He was smiling at her.

xxxxxxx

_Egypt_

"And, have you found out something?" Assur asked her.

Gabrielle froze as she heard his voice.

"Yes, I have indeed found out something," she answered, "but I fear it is not exactly that what you wanted to know."

"And what is it?" he asked.

"One of the texts you gave me is copied from an ancient scroll, the same that these people here were protecting. So how do you know these texts?

"You have one of the scrolls. This means that you are the one searching for them. You are the one who has killed everyone here," she accused him.

"You know a lot," Assur commented, "for a mortal."

Gabrielle knew these words might cost her her life, but she had no choice. There was no way she would help him knowing what she knew.

"Yes? I also know something else. You were right, I have red many tales from many countries and I have now remembered one of them, the story of the Assyrians.

They were a race of brutal conquerors who used to attack their neighbours and terrorized them with unbelievable cruelty. Entire countries were subjugated, towns were being razed to the ground, thousands were tortured and murdered. This continued until the neighboring states finally teamed up and overthrew them a few generations ago.

And the irony is that the Assyrians did all that in the name of their gods. They claimed that it was their right to conquer and enslave all the others lands. The leader of this pantheon was a megalomaniac War God, a tyrant, you. You were trying to trick me into helping you and I won´t let anybody do this to me." Not again, she thought.

"You are very smart little mortal," he told her, "too smart." He formed a ball of energy in his hand. "You must have realized of course that you were going to die the moment you stopped being useful. That comes now a bit earlier than expected.

In one case you were right. Once we thought ourselves allmighty, the rulers of this world and we used our worshippers to widen the borders of our realm. Until Dahak came. Then we had to learn under great pain that we were **nothing**. He crushed us, hunted us down. We were powerless before him. He destroyed us, all except me.

But I refuse to stay `nothing´. I will grow, ascend. I will become like Dahak, a the universe spanning force. Or I might even surpass him. You however, will be dead by then. You might have faced Gods in the past, but that was only because you had higher powers backing you up."

"Sorry, but this `higher powers´ are still behind us," another voice spoke up.

Assur turned around. Gabrielle saw now who was standing behind them.

"Xena," she called out, "how?" She saw, but couldn't quite believe it.

"The infamous Xena," the God said, "I see your reputation about cheating death is not completely unfounded. But you have no chance, you should know this."

"Gabrielle," she called, "the Chakram."

A moment later, a she had halfway managed to overcome her shock, she threw the weapon that she was still carrying at her side to Xena.

"You really think that will help you?" Assur asked mockingly.

"We will see," she replied and threw the Chakram with full force.

The God barely made any effort to avoid the strike.

Consequently, to his shock, he felt a sharp pain in his arm and saw that he had a deep cut-wound.

"The power to kill gods," Gabrielle murmured confused, "You have it back. How...how can you be alive again. How...don´t tell me, you have not."

She finally realized what her friend must have done.

"Xena, tell me you have not accepted Dahak´s offer," she whispered.

* * *

**Authors notes: **

This chapter has a few references about episodes of Hercules. The first episode of season 6, "Be deviled", where a demon is trying to corrupt Herculesand the two about Morrigan´s story, season 5 number 3 and 5.

xxx

The reputation of the Assyrians as `brutal conquerors´ is based on real life. They conquered a large empire and were especially infamous for their sadistic punishments of enemies and prisoners. Beside other things they are credited to be the inventors of the impalement.

As justification of their actions they claimed that their kings are chosen by their gods to rule everything in existence and therefore every action they took was automatically justified and resistence a sin.


	5. Chapter 5: Trust

**Chapter 5**

_Egypt_

The god Assur was still starring at Xena, the mortal woman who had somehow managed to wound him. This should have been technically impossible.

"So this is the power that destroyed the Olympians," he observed.

"Let us say it is a version….an improved version of it," Xena told him.

Yes, now the source of the power was the Darkness and not longer the Light of an Angel, she thought. Not that it made much of a difference. By what she had heard, the two forces were in some way only two sides of the same coin, so it was pretty much the same thing, just viewed from a different angle.

"Oh really?" Assur retorted with a smile.

xxx

A few meters aside from them stood Gabrielle, who was shocked, happy, afraid and horrified to see her friend alive.

What she feared the most was that Xena had given in and agreed to a pact with Dahak, that she had joined him.

The Bard had watched the confrontation she had with him in the afterlife, all except the final conclusion. So far she had been sure that Xena would refuse. But now it looked as if she had actually accepted whatever deal Dahak had offered.

How could she have done that after all he had put them through?- a part of her asked angrily. She remembered all the times Xena had confronted her for trying to give Hope a chance, all her twisted `arguments´ that her daughter had to die. And then she had believed her, she remembered, trusting her like so often. For years she did.

And now, she **herself** made a pact with the monster. Who the Tartarus did she think she was?

Tears streaming down her face, Gabrielle recalled what she had heard of their confrontation in the afterlife. She remembered how Dahak had mocked her nearly blind trust for the Warrior Princess.

_"Gabrielle´s greatest weakness had always been her blind unthinking devotion to you,"_ she recounted these words.

_"Oh yes, Gabrielle…." _

Soon, another statement came to her mind _ "Isn´t it fascinating what you have turned her into? A few years back she wouldn´t have hurt a fly…And now she kidnaps a innocent person, threatening to let her die... Ironic isn´t it? That's what she got for overly trusting you... Too bad her trust was so misplaced."_

_"And in everything mother followed you like some mentally limited drone. Without asking any questions…." _she recalled Hope´s words.

Gabrielle hated those memories. They made her question everything, not only Xena but also herself. She preferred to bury them deep inside.

But now, now she was standing in front of a resurrected Warrior Princess who was obviously involved with Dahak. Now she truly had to ask herself...

In the first years she and Xena had known each other they had often disagreed about several things and Gabrielle let her know this. In some sense they had even balanced each other out. But then all that changed.

It began to change when Solan died, when Hope killed him, because of her mistake, as she thought then.

_"Solan would have never even been targeted if Xena had just left __**her**__ alone,"_ another voice said inside her head.

After his death however, she slowly started to burry all doubts about Xena´s decisions and slowly began to go along with everything she said. Never again did she want to make a mistake like that. So she began to place all her trust in the Warrior Princess and her flawless judgment.

The second reason was that she never wanted to hurt Xena like that again. And she wanted to make up for it by her complete loyalty to her.

She had been a fool, Gabrielle thought.

Maybe it was true, she said to herself. Maybe she had made a mistake when she **trusted** Xena in the first place.

xxx

"Do you think that by owning this power alone, you can defeat me? "Assur asked Xena self-confidently. "You are a fool. You see, I am somewhat different from the other Gods you have killed."

He was still holding the ball of energy he had prepared in his hand, but now he was aiming it at her.

"Oh yeah? What makes you so special?" she asked.

The Chakram was being deflected back from the walls and now once again in her hand.

"I have already become more powerful. Much more powerful than any God has ever been." he replied, throwing his energy-ball at her.

"That won´t keep you from dying," she responded grimly.

_"This is your chance,"_ she heard a voice in her head. Dahak, she realized.

Xena felt even more power flowing into her. Never in her life had she been as strong like she was in that very moment.

Getting her Chakram ready to strike again, she was also mentally preparing to draw her sword just in case that the Chakram wouldn' t be enough.

She aimed her weapon at her opponent. She smiled. This time she would win, she knew.

Then suddenly she saw a light appearing next to them and a new being stood in the room. Out of reflex her aim shifted. She didn´t know if the newcomer was friend or enemy.

Michael, she recognized him nearly instantly. However she still couldn't tell if she could trust the Angel or not, not after what had happened the last time they met and the things Dahak had revealed to her.

The Archangel on the other hand, seemed less surprised to see her as she would have expected. Probably, he had been already informed about her return.

Assur on the other hand used this opportunity. With a loud nearly manic laughter he vanished in a bright light.

"No!" Xena shouted as she saw what happened. He had escaped despite of the fact that she was seconds away from sending him to oblivion, and all because of….

"Michael," she called out angrily, "What are you doing here?"

"I came looking for **him**." He said, pointing to the place where the God had just disappeared. "I wanted to stop him."

"Oh yeah?" she retorted. "I had him right before me. But thanks to you distracting me, he got away."

"Don´t fool yourself. You would have never defeated him alone. He is far too powerful," he replied.

Xena grew even angrier by this comment, despite that she realized how absurd that was. After all, he suggested that she was less powerful than a **god**.

"Why should I trust you after what happened the last time?" she asked him.

"I admit that I made some errors of judgment," he said.

"Errors of judgement? You tried to send my daughter to her death and if what Dahak has told me is true, you have been playing me from the start."

"I did what I thought was right, even if I was wrong. How many times did you follow your personal notion of `rightness´. How many have you sent to their deaths Xena?" he asked.

She remembered the `conversations´ she had with Dahak in the afterlife. Yes, she had to admit, she was truly in no position to pass judgment here.

"I will put this aside, for now," she told him.

"Gabrielle." she turned around to her friend. But what she saw discouraged her even more.

The Bard was starring at her in a mixture of shock, disappointment and anger.

As Xena tried to reach out to her she actually took a step backwards.

"Gabrielle?" she asked unsurely.

"Don´t come any closer," the Bard told her. "You...you have actually done it," she said. "You've pledged yourself to Dahak."

"No, it is not like that," Xena assured her.

"Oh yes, because it is always something different when it is about **you**, right?" Gabrielle replied angrily. "Just tell me why...why have you done it? You had already accepted that you died. You even refused to let **me** bring you back. I had to live with your loss. You decided to stay dead and leave me behind.

And then you allowed **him** to resurrect you? of all beings in existence. What am I meant to think about this?

Do you remember what he had said about you and about me? How he and Hope painted you as a hypocrite, a liar and a murderer and me as your personal doormate?"

_"She had tried to murder your daughter about the unfortunate death of one man, while she let her own get away with murdering thousands and you were so stupid to trust her."_ Gabrielle could nearly hear the voice in her head.

"Despite all that I decided to get over all this. I continued caring about you and loving you like I did before," she said. "I told myself that you would never accept Dahak´s offer, that despite everything you were a good person. For one year I kept telling myself that. And now I find out that you have **actually done** it,"

By now, the Bard's voice had turned into a shriek.

"I guess I truly was an idiot, right?" she spat out.

"Gabrielle, you don´t understand."

"No I don't! How could I?! Do you remember how you reacted about Hope? What did you called her again? A vessel for evil, nothing else? And now you come back to me as a lapdog of her **father**. You are right, I truly don´t understand this."

"Gabrielle, please...let me explain. Dahak, he let you see nearly everything what happened in the afterlife. But he never showed you the end of our conversation. So you have never heard the true reason he wanted to bring me back."

"Listen to her Gabrielle. She is telling you the truth," Michael said to her.

"And why should I believe you any more than her? You have just sent your Angel Callisto to knock her up with Eve without us even knowing and then didn´t even do so much as move a limb to help us as we were fighting everyone over her," she answered. "And then, as she had served her purpose, you wanted to sacrifice her." Gabrielle turned back to Xena.

She was trembling.

"Tell me! " she requested.

"It is about this God… Assur. You already know that he is searching for three ancient scrolls that contain a ritual that could destroy this world. Not even Dahak wants him to succeed. He has send me back to stop him.

Gabrielle, you have to believe me, that is all. He has just brought me back to life. He has no hold over me. I have not agreed to anything else. The reason I am here is because he thought I would be useful against this renegade god. He can not control me, he doesn't. Unless I allow it," she added a bit quieter.

"You have lied to me before," Gabrielle said, "and hidden things from me."

_"You used Gabrielle as a tool... all you had to do was "forget" to mention to her that Crassus' execution would cause a civil-war and lead to the death of thousands of people."_

"Yes, many times," Xena admitted.

xxx

_"If you truly wanted Eve to be safe you would have just stayed with her in the northern Amazon land. The Olympians would not have been __**able**__ to harm her...Instead... you actually brought her back... The only reason she was still in danger afterwards was because you wanted it."_

_"Instead, you brought her into your own home-town, a territory that was under Athena´s patronage... You used your own people as human shield... _

_"You kidnapped Celesta and brought pain and suffering over the world...And all that in the name of protecting a child that would have already been safe if you had not willingly brought her back to Greece."_

xxx

Gabrielle tried to ban these thought from her mind. She couldn´t forget, this was that Dahak **wanted** her to think. No matter how much of it could be factually true, those were still facts he had designed to get to her.

"How can I trust you? How do I know that you haven't truly given in to him?" she asked.

Xena flinched. This question hurt, more than anything else Gabrielle had said to her that day. But given the circumstances, it was more than justified, she had to admit.

The last time the bard had seen her, she had to remind herself, she was in the afterlife and Dahak had been offering to resurrect her in exchange for her very soul. And now she was standing before her, alive. To that came all the other reasons he had brought up for Gabrielle to distrust her. So she couldn´t expect anything else.

"You said it yourself, you didn't think that I would ever give myself willingly to Dahak. And I didn´t. We have been friends for many years, soulmates even. Please Gabrielle, if you have ever trusted me, trust me now."

She reached her hand out to the Bard.

For a few moments Gabrielle hesitated. A split second she looked to Michael who had stood silent during the exchange and back to Xena. He nodded slightly. She had no reason to trust him either, she reminded herself.

Finally she did what her feelings told her to do, what she would ever do. She took Xena´s hand.

"I do trust you," she said.

xxxxxxx

_The realm of Hell_

Like the realm of Light, also called Heaven, Hell was an unique place under the dimensions.

And just like Heaven was the domain of the Light of creation, this realm was completely controlled by the Darkness. It was Dahak´s essence that reigned every aspect of this world.

"Xena has failed," a voice said.

It belonged to an imposing demonic being that stood before a giant wall of fire that spread thousands of meters into every direction.

He was Lucifer, the new King of Hell. Behind him stood an army of hundreds of Fallen Angels who were listening to the conversation he had with the Will that was controlling their realm.

"It would have indeed been preferable if she had managed to kill him right away," Dahak answered. "But you have known that this has always been the **most** likely possibility. I never actually expected Xena to succeed at the first try. Or to succeed at all by herself alone."

"This means your plan will continue according to schedule," Lucifer assessed.

"Yes it will."


End file.
